His spectacular 259 not out during the drawn first Test at the Gabba has lifted Australia’s skipper to the highest ranking of his career, number four, on the official International Cricket Council table.

By contrast the double failure of South African captain Graeme Smith in Brisbane has seen his ranking fall three places to number 10, a metaphor highlighting the momentum swing in the match.

Clarke has been phenomenal since taking over the captaincy from Ponting, and not just as a batsman.

His captaincy record from the moment he led the team out against Sri Lanka at Galle at the end of August last year is the best in the world, overshadowing even Smith.

While Smith took South Africa to number one by beating England earlier this year, he has a 50 per cent winning record during Clarke’s captaincy period with six victories from 12 Tests, compared to Clarke’s 60 per cent record of nine wins from 15 Tests.

"Words cannot describe how good he has been since he has been captain,” said Arthur.

“Over the last year he has been simply outstanding.

“It is not a question of the runs he was scoring because he was a top batsman who was always going to get the runs.

“The key has been the way he prepares, the meticulous preparation. He does not leave anything to chance. He puts the work in.

“Because of that he is a great example to the dressing room and getting the reward with performance.”

The work has included a self-imposed boot camp over the last two years with a personal trainer at an isolated location.

But Clarke’s hard work started long before he played for Australia.

As a teenager he began to suffer a degenerative back so Clarke began regular back exercises that have been part of his daily routine for a decade.

However dodgy his back has been at times he has never missed a Test because of it and clearly it has not hindered his batting.

During his epic Brisbane innings Clarke became the first player to reach 1000 runs this year, romping to 1041 runs in just seven Tests at an average of 116 with three centuries.

And they weren’t just any old one-hundred-and-something centuries.

He began the year with 329 not out in Sydney against India, followed it with 210 against India in Adelaide two Tests later and most recently carved up the best pace attack in the world.

It has been inspiring stuff and his team has responded.

After a poor first day, washed out second and then another terrible top-order collapse on the third, Clarke dragged Australia back into the match with the help of centuries from Ed Cowan and Mike Hussey.

Then the fast bowlers got it right on Tuesday as Australia had the better of a draw that has lifted the anticipation heading to Adelaide.